


Twisted Fate

by HeWhoIsMany



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Altered Mental States, Body Swap, F/M, Gender or Sex Swap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 02:44:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13425048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeWhoIsMany/pseuds/HeWhoIsMany
Summary: When the young married couple of Leo and Sakura find an antique that does more than just look nice on a shelf, they find themselves living each other's lives. Can they find a way to change back, if they even want to?





	Twisted Fate

As third in line to the Nohrian crown, Leo had never been much for shopping. The closest he ever came to enjoying the act of moving from stall to stall, eyes and ears open for low prices, was when he approached a seller of rare items. Ancient tomes, foreign scrolls, lost artifacts, it was only these curiosities that ever truly beggared his attention. Still, he did the best for his wife, the Princess of Hoshido Sakura. While she herself was too timid to ever truly throw herself into the hustle and bustle of a marketplace, she did find a quiet stroll through one could lead to some interesting finds, and she much appreciated her husband’s presence when she did so.

Thus, in the middle of such an undertaking, when Leo caught sight of a large, burly man with a stall full of dusty books and ancient items, he carefully adjusted their trajectory to ensure they’d arrive there. The man watched Leo with a smile on his face, gave him a polite greeting, and left Leo to his wanderings eyes, Sakura looking absently herself at the odd assortment of objects.

Many of the books were written in languages Leo had no chance of deciphering, and yet his magical senses could tell that they, along with everything else on the stand, radiated magical power on a level similar to his own personal tome. Leo’s thought process on which item, or items, to pick up was interrupted by the deep, resonate voice of the stand’s owner. “Did you find something you like, Your Highness?”

Leo turned to see Sakura was holding a matching pair of brass bracelets, and even as her own eyes lay on them, transfixed, Leo himself found the sight of the seemingly plain adornments unusually fascinating. His wife looked at the merchant. “Y-yes, actually. Can you tell me what these are?”

Something about that must have struck the man as amusing, as he immediately began laughing, the sound more similar the beat of an enormous drum than anything else. “That would spoil all the fun, wouldn’t it? I can tell you they’re meant for married couples, to help them understand each other better. Did you want them?” Sakura nodded her head, weakly. “Then they’re yours! A late wedding present for the royal couple!”

As the two walked back to their war camp, brass bracelets affixed to both of their wrists, Leo looked at Sakura. The question was evident on his face, enough that he didn’t need to vocalize it. His wife struggled to meet his eyes. “W-well, I thought we could always use more understanding. I want to know you even better, and if these will help, then I’m h-happy we got them.”

He had to admit she had a point. Leo didn’t like to admit it, but he knew that he could often seem stand-offish and cold, difficult to read even by those closest to him. Sakura had the opposite problem: so affected by the looks and words of others that it made her own thoughts lost in the confusion. Leo could feel the power in the small item, and wondered exactly how they would help him achieve this end.

 

For the first time in years, Leo awoke well-rested, his sleep undisturbed by the faces of those he’d silenced in the name of his father. It was quiet, the quiet of pre-dawn morning, and he could feel his partner beside him in bed, still asleep. Not wanting to wake her, Leo slipped out as silently as possible and walked over to his desk, where he could continue where he’d left off last night in the thick book of xenomancy he had started a few weeks ago. As he moved across the room, Leo moved past the full-length mirror of their tent and his peripheral vision caught something unexpected. Confused, Leo turned around and faced the mirror, unprepared for what he found.

Standing in the mirror was not the tall, lean, masculine form he was so used to. No, instead he saw a young woman with a shock of bright red hair, an honest face, a petite body, clad in a nightshirt made in her home country of Hoshido. It was Sakura, his princess wife, staring back at him, her eyes wide and tears beginning to appear on the edges. Numb with shock, Leo lifted a hand to his eye and felt the wetness there. Tears? He had not cried in years. How was any of this happening? What was happening?

A look over at the bed showed him the sleeping form of his own body, his blonde hair splayed across the pillow, a peaceful look on his face that made Leo blush a little. Thoughts began to appear in his head, thoughts of how beautiful that sleeping body was, of what he wanted to do with it. The blush spread and Leo shook his head, frowning. The bracelets, that must have been the cause. Looking down at his feminine wrist, Leo saw no sign of the brass accessory. Without much thought, Leo put on some of Sakura’s normal clothes, not wanting to give anyone the image of his wife walking around camp in her bedclothes, and walked out of the tent in a brisk pace, hoping to find the merchant who did this and leave his old body and the thoughts it gave him behind.

The chilled morning air hit him far harder than he had expected, his arms crossing as if to fend off the cold itself. Shivering a little, Leo headed off towards the nearby town’s marketplace, grateful that everyone else in camp seemed to be asleep. Part of him was happy that no one else would see him like this, the other part happy not to have to interact with someone he didn’t know, to have to pretend to be someone he wasn’t. He was just about to leave the camp entirely when he heard a moan of pain from a tent near him. Curious, Leo moved closer and saw it was the tent for the wounded, and without a second thought moved inside. One of the men who had broken a leg in a recent had woken up, his eyes unfocused. They moved in Leo’s direction, and something like relief appeared to dawn on him. “Princess Sakura...”

A nearby Hoshidan rod lay against a table, the sight of it calling to something in Leo. He moved hesitantly, as if relearning something from a long time ago, as he picked up the wooden rod, something Leo had never touched before, and moved towards the fallen soldier. Intellectually, Leo knew he’d never been able to pick up healing magic, partially due to a lack of interest on his part, but he suddenly found himself soothing the man’s agony with the rod, the divine magic emanating from the wood easily. Once the man was asleep once more, Leo looked down at the rod in his thin, feminine hands. How much had he changed?

 

When Sakura awoke, she found herself troubled. She was alone in her bed; Leo had left to go somewhere. That happened, some mornings, and it was part of him she’d had to get used to. As much as she longed for his attention, Sakura knew he had many duties to the camp, and that sometimes came before her comfort. She tried going back to sleep, but found the task impossible. Feeling uncharacteristically annoyed, Sakura got up from the bed in a huff and looked around the room. Had she grown a little in her sleep? Everything looked a little smaller.

Getting herself looking presentable was always the first part of starting the day, and to begin Sakura moved in front of her mirror, her eyes still half-closed from sleep. That did not last long, however, as they quickly snapped open as she saw the tall, masculine form of her husband in the mirror, his blonde hair tousled and his handsome face shocked. Sakura moved her hands over her body and found the same musculature that was reflected at her, and finally looked down to see the truth for herself. The brass bracelet he’d been wearing last night was gone, and Sakura realized in an instant that it was the cause of this insanity.

As if as a natural response, Sakura took a deep breath and found her emotions calming down, and her mind focusing on the rational. Whether Leo was still in his own body and out and about or in her body trying to cope with this as well, Sakura doubted she’d be able to do a reasonable impression of her husband on the fly, especially with those who knew him but who she did not know well at all. With that avenue gone to her, Sakura looked around the room and found her eyes drawn to a thick tome on Leo’s desk.

Leo had told her it was something to do with the Dragon’s Gate and the Outer Realms, and while at the time that had been enough now Sakura was curious to know more. Sitting in the comfy chair at the desk, Sakura opened the book at the beginning and began to read. It was quite odd: while Sakura was quite literate in several languages, the act of reading itself had only ever been more than a chore or assignment when it came to fantasy novels or romantic fiction. This tome was full of technical details on the magic and history of xenomancy, yet her mind was devouring the information within as easily as she would a chocolate bon bon.

After reading for nearly an hour, already finishing several chapters in that time, Sakura’s mind began to wander as she read, the multitasking coming easily to her. If Leo had woken up in her body, what a shock that must have been. Concern flooded through Sakura, but it did not show on her face nor overwhelm her mind. She really wished Leo would return, Sakura could imagine it now. Her thoughts turned to kissing her old body, pulling Leo close for more. The thoughts snapped Sakura out of her reading, her eyes blinking, and she felt the bedclothes she still wore around her waist grow tighter as something struggled inside them. Frowning, Sakura redoubled her focus on the book, trying to banish those thoughts from her mind.

 

After helping the man with the broken leg Leo found herself helping several other injured people over the course of the morning. Occasionally a friend of Sakura’s would stop by, but despite her earlier fears Leo found it quite easy to pass as her wife, at least enough for those passing conversations. As she worked, Leo found herself considering something odd that she was only now able to put into words: ever since that morning, she’d felt lighter than she had since her childhood. The sins she had committed in the name of Nohr, the ones that haunted her every day since, slipped away from her like water off a duck’s back. To be sure, Leo still remembered them, but it seemed so much easier to forgive herself now. For the first time in years, Leo was by herself and content with who she was.

Once the work to be done was finished, Leo excused herself politely from the tent and started back towards her own. The merchant could wait, Leo was curious to see what had become of Sakura since the early morning. Along the way she mumbled a hello to various friends and strangers as she passed them. Leo felt quite odd doing so: at once scared, nervous, and happy, a combination of feelings she had never felt before today.

Whatever she had expected to find when she got back to the tent, it had not been her old body sitting at the desk, halfway through A Study of Xenomancy and Its Varied History. As Leo meekly entered, blushing up a storm, finding it difficult to look at the man sitting at the desk, Sakura turned to Leo and gave her a small smile. “Good morning, Leo. It is Leo, isn’t it?” Still a little stunned, Leo nodded weakly. “That’s good, I would not have enjoyed making a fool out of myself.”

Sakura closed the book and turned to face Leo, his face difficult to read. Her mind struggling to find something to talk about first, Leo blurted out, “H-how do you find my old body?” The question felt foolish, but it was all she could think of.

The man at the desk seemed to consider the question for a few moments before responding. “I like it. I feel stronger than I ever did before, and my appetite for reading has greatly improved. Where were you earlier? Trying to find the merchant?”

The question made Leo blush even harder. “I-I started trying to find him, but...I heard a soldier in p-pain and I had to go help h-him.” Her eyes fell to the floor. “I’m sorry.” Without hesitation Sakura rose from the desk, crossed the room, and hugged Leo tightly, his broad chest comforting against her face. And yet, despite what Leo had expected, she didn’t start crying. Instead, she looked up at Sakura’s face, the face that had once been hers only yesterday, her eyes drawn to the thin line of his lips. He saw it coming, and met her lips halfway. The kiss was passionate, at once a new experience and something old and familiar, and before too long they wound up in bed once again.

 

Still tired and sweaty, Leo rested her red hair against the sleek surface of Sakura’s chest. She looked up at him, a blush still on her face. “Do you still want to find a way to reverse this?” Leo knew the answer for herself, but she needed the affirmation of her partner.

The question brought a genuine smile to Sakura’s face. “Not at all. I think being Leo is more than good enough for me.” Something sad touched at his eyes, and he looked deeper at the woman in bed with him. “Are you okay being Sakura? Being a woman?”

Unable to meet his eyes as she answered, she barely managed to reply, “Being your wife is all I could ever dream of, now.” Then, something occurred to the newly minted Sakura, and she pointed out, “You’re more open with your emotions now than I ever was. Why is that?”

Idly, the new Leo cupped one of his wife’s small breasts in one hand, eliciting a squeak of surprise from her. “I think part of the reason you were always so closed off was because you feared how others saw you, as the kind of man who had committed the atrocities attributed to your name. But I still remember being you, and I know how you see me: as a warm and loving husband, one who has more friends than he can count and has saved more lives than he likes to admit. You yourself seem a little bolder than a remember being.”

The lines of thought converged, and Sakura let out a breath as she understood. “Part of your shyness was because of how you thought of yourself, a plain and underwhelming little princess. But I've seen you, and therefore myself, from the outside. I'm pretty, I'm intelligent, and I shouldn't tell myself anything different. This whole ordeal really does mean we understand each other better, in more ways than one.”

They went forward from that day with none ever the wiser that the two royal young adults had switched places. On occasion one needed to inform the other of a past event or details of a relationship that would be pertinent, but otherwise it was difficult for even them to tell that they had ever been anyone else. In the years to come they never got around to telling Forrest that his father had once been his mother, and vice versa. After all, everyone was happy now, why confuse things.


End file.
